In 1953 a North Sea surge flooded large parts of Northern Europe. Back then there were no modern flood defences, only a few folk had telephones or radio communication, and the devastation was immense. Even today with our modern communications tech and advances meteorology this is something all folk in coastal areas here must still be aware of. (The weather often goes round in a circle here, which seems to be often centred around England!)
It will forever be remembered as the night of terror when a North Sea surge flooded the Orwell estuary, sending water smashing through the river walls and a torrent sweeping across Trimley Marshes and through where the port now stands into the resort’s low-lying West End.
It created a scene of devastation with Langer Road left more than 6ft deep in water. Of the 41 who died, 13 were children, and the toll included whole families.
There had been no warning of the floods about to hit – there were no emergency warning systems, or the pinpoint accuracy of the weather warnings or the modern communications we enjoy today.
One minute people were enjoying the evening together, the next their homes were flooded.
Felixstowe: Resort to honour 41 killed in floods – News – Ipswich Star
[h=3]Warnings[/h] At the time of the flood, none of the local radio stations broadcast at night, and many of the smaller weather stations operated only during the day, as a result of which the warnings of the KNMI did not penetrate the flood-threatened area in time. People did not receive warning and were consequently unable to prepare for the impending flood. Telephone and telegraph networks were disrupted, and within hours amateur radio operators went into the affected areas with their equipment to form a voluntary emergency radio network. These well-organized radio amateurs worked tirelessly, providing radio communications for ten days and nights, and were the only people maintaining contact with the outside world. In
addition, the disaster struck on a Saturday night, and many offices in the disaster area were unstaffed.
EN : North Sea flood of 1953 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NL : Watersnood van 1953 – Wikipedia
